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Toshiba T48050CT — Re-cap or nah?

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First post, by yk102

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Hi! I bought a supposedly dead Toshiba T48050CT on eBay. It arrived dead as described with its original power supply. Trying a different power supply (1 volt above rating) made it work pretty much immediately and it booted straight into Windows 95.

It seemed to work wonderfully except for two problems:

  • The audio didn't work. I couldn't hear a thing from the speaker or through headphones
  • When under super intense loads, it would do this weird red artefacting on the screen. I've seen that exact symptom, with the same exact appearance, on another motherboard that needed a recap.
  • The floppy drive seems to be dead. I can hear something spinning, but that grind sound from the heads is not there.

I took it completely apart today. No corrosion from leaked batteries or anything, so that's a big plus! The caps look okay.

Funnily, when I connected everything together (bare, without the shell to test that I didn't screw anything up) audio functionality came back to life magically. The only thing I did was reseat the little audio board.

I find this inconsistent behavior suspicious. Even more so because it doesn't work with its original PSU. I tested that with another laptop (a Compaq Armada) and it worked perfectly fine, so why isn't it working for the laptop its designed for?

It currently has ELNA electrolytic capacitors. I'm thinking of getting Panasonic FM-A Series capacitors since they have the exact values I need.

Thoughts? Here are some pictures mean while...

Motherboard side A

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Motherboard side B

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Powerboard

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Audioboard

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Reply 1 of 4, by MAZter

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I can assume that due to internal defects the laptop just requires more power than before. As for the sound - in my experience, sound or video as separate boards are often repaired by simply reseating it in the slot or/and cleaning the contacts.

Previously I assembled a working one T4850CT from two non-working ones (around $42 each), you can just wait for the laptop with a broken screen and case to appear on the market.

Doom is what you want (c) MAZter

Reply 2 of 4, by yk102

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MAZter wrote on 2025-03-18, 12:41:

You can just wait for the laptop with a broken screen and case to appear on the market.

That's a good idea but I don't really see the point since the one I have works pretty much perfectly. I was only wondering whether I should recap

MAZter wrote on 2025-03-18, 12:41:

I can assume that due to internal defects the laptop just requires more power than before.

I wonder if the lack of a battery is what causes that. The NImH pack is dead and corroded... but that corrosion thankfully didn't spread. The power brick I'm using does seem to be getting very hot when running the laptop. It's probably a good idea to measure the current it draws.

Reply 3 of 4, by MAZter

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Agree, but more often, the presence of the battery may be the problem. My Sager was making a high pitch noise to the audio channel while charging the battery until I removed it.

Doom is what you want (c) MAZter

Reply 4 of 4, by yk102

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MAZter wrote on 2025-03-18, 15:10:

Agree, but more often, the presence of the battery may be the problem. My Sager was making a high pitch noise to the audio channel while charging the battery until I removed it.

No battery in mine at all. However, now that you mention that, I inspected the powerboard (which also has the battery contacts) and those do have some corrosion inside them. That probably doesn't help. The battery terminals are screwed in place. I'll remove and clean them.

The floppy drive remains the biggest issue. I'll have to find out why that isn't working. Something spins but nothing happens. It's like a car starter without a functional solenoid.

I wonder if it's possible to modify another floppy drive and fit it in there... I doubt I can find a compatible replacement.

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